Greyducks’ Season Cut Short at City Championships

It was a chilly day at Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday, November 11, the day of the PSAL Cross Country City Championships. Goosebumps covered the bodies of the runners and the air they breathed turned white behind them as they ran towards the finish line. Stuyvesant’s boys’ varsity cross country team, the Greyducks, fell short of qualifying for the New York State Federation Meet. The loss brought an untimely end to what had been a promising season for the Greyducks, leaving some members disappointed but others proud of their accomplishments.

Heading into the City Championships, the Greyducks were the underdogs once again, previously having been projected to lose to the High School for Math, Science, and Engineering in the Manhattan Borough Championships on Saturday, November 4. “We were expected to be ninth in the city based on our previous performances,” senior and co-captain Minhein Htet said. Only the top four teams in the City Championships qualify for the Federation Meet. In addition, the top 12 athletes not part of the four qualifying teams are eligible to run in the Federation Meet.

In the varsity five-kilometer race, sophomore Baird Johnson placed 21st with a time of 17:40.09, and senior Clive Johnston finished 29th with a time of 17:55.34. “Clive Johnston and Caleb Hoo ran tremendous races, both setting personal bests by a good margin. Baird Johnson also ran his fastest time of the season as well by about 35 seconds,” coach Carl DiSarno said. Hoo ran about 15 seconds faster than he had in the Borough Championships, and Johnston ran nearly 50 seconds faster than he had in those championships. However, these performances were not enough to qualify, as the Greyducks earned sixth place, just outside of the top four. Johnson and Johnston both qualified individually for the Federation Meet but both declined to compete for personal reasons.

Disarno’s strategy for the Greyducks was to get off to a good start and not fall behind early. “We needed to get out well and the seniors needed to run as a group,” he said. Moreover, if the seniors ran as a group, they would be able to block off runners from other teams trying to pass them. The Greyducks also needed one of the projected top four teams (Susan Wagner High School, Brooklyn Technical High School, The Bronx High School of Science, and Midwood High School) to slip up, but the team’s game plan failed as the above schools placed first, second, third, and fourth, respectively.

“We don’t have guys fast enough to beat the top guys of Midwood, but we were confident that all of our guys [could] beat their fourth man. Unfortunately, their fourth man ran exceptionally well and we were unable to make a gap big enough for us to beat Midwood. In addition, HSMSE also managed to place a few guys between our guys,” Htet said.

In the Borough Championships, Htet, Johnston, and Sit placed sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively. In the City Championships, 17 runners finished in between Johnston and Htet, and 21 runners finished in between Htet and Sit. Consequently, Stuyvesant finished behind HSMSE, who they had beaten just two weeks earlier at the Borough Championships.

In the junior varsity race, Stuyvesant placed eighth, with the final four qualifying teams being Brooklyn Technical High School, the Bronx High School of Science, the High School of American Studies, and Staten Island Technical High School, in that order.

Many Greyducks felt as if the team could have run better. “I’m not gonna mince my words. With the exception of a couple of guys who ran excellently, we all messed up big time,” Htet said. He also believed that the weather was an obstacle. “A bad race can happen to anyone and it just happened to hit some of our guys at a bad time,” he said.

Sit took a more positive approach than either Htet or Disarno to the loss. “I’m actually pretty satisfied with how the team performed. I choked up, but the rest of the team stepped up big. We mostly hit the times that we planned, but the rest of the competition also did much better,” he said.

Seniors Htet and Sit reflected on their final cross country season with the Greyducks. “I had fun this year. I have no regrets about joining this team. This sport and this team have become part of who I am. It’s sad to think about how I’m going to have to leave soon,” Htet said.

“It’s a shame that the season's over so quickly, but I know that every member was committed to the team from start to finish. Whether it was raining or freezing, they went to practice,” Sit said.